<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="62" > National Congress of Combat Heroes</h1>
On September 25, 1950, on the eve of the National Day, the National Congress of Combat Heroes was held in Beijing.
Chairman Mao, Premier Zhou, President Zhu Laozong, and other state leaders attended the meeting, and a total of 350 representatives of the national troops who were eligible to attend the meeting were all heroic figures who had made meritorious achievements in the armed forces throughout the country.
National Congress of Combat Heroes
Before the meeting began, the representatives of these heroes sat down, chatted with each other, introduced each other, and the atmosphere was very harmonious. At this moment, a group of heroic representatives walked in at the entrance of the venue, and when everyone who had already sat saw one of them, the whole venue was quiet for a moment.
Eyes remained on the man until he sat in his representative seat. Everyone turned back to god, invariably surrounded this person, excitedly shook hands with him, and greeted him with respect and even some admiration, and the atmosphere of the venue suddenly became more warm and harmonious.
Who is this person?
Why did his appearance make the heroic representatives of the whole venue so excited?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="61" > heroes</h1>
This person who can make all the hero representatives excited is named Zhang Yingcai. There's a reason, of course, that hero delegates are so excited. In their respective units, they are all heroes in the hearts of their comrades-in-arms, and as long as they see their backs, they can lift their spirits. And Zhang Yingcai is also such a presence in the hearts of these heroic representatives.
Zhang Yingcai
In the military, there has always been a saying: the third class merit stands and leads, the second class merit lies in the collar, and the first class merit family leads. This shows how difficult it is for soldiers to make meritorious contributions. Of the more than 4 million PLA soldiers, only 77 have made special meritorious contributions, and one of them is a heroic combat hero.
Zhang Yingcai is one of these combat heroes, and what is even more surprising is that he has made special merits before and after as many as 9 times!
It is simply a record of no one before and no one after.
This time Zhang Yingcai came to Beijing as a heroic representative of the Second Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army to attend the meeting, but this was not the first time Zhang Yingcai had come to Beijing.
Just a year ago, in June 1949, Zhang Yingcai was elected as the representative of the heroic model of the whole army, representing the entire Erye to participate in the Chinese youth delegation, and went to Budapest, Hungary, to participate in that year's World Democratic Youth Congress and International Youth Day. Before the youth delegation officially went abroad, they stayed in Beijing for a while.
It was during this time that Zhang Yingcai, along with other youth representatives, was received by Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou. This was the first time he had seen the two leaders, and Zhang Yingcai was already very excited just by watching the two leaders talking to their companions. What Zhang Yingcai did not expect was that after Chairman Mao walked in front of him, his footsteps suddenly stopped, and he accurately called out his name: "You are Zhang Yingcai, right?" Saying, he also took the initiative to extend his hand to Zhang Yingcai.
Zhang Yingcai said very nervously that I am I am, and at the same time somewhat awkwardly shook Chairman Mao's outstretched hand. Chairman Mao saw that he was very nervous, so he patted him on the shoulder and chatted with him in a relaxed tone: "I heard that you are from Erye?" Very powerful, have you ever been to Dabie Mountain? ”
Chairman Mao
The commander of the Second Field Army was Liu Bocheng, and in 1946, he and political commissar Deng Xiaoping led a large army into the Dabie Mountains, turning the situation of the Liberation War in one fell swoop and laying the foundation for a nationwide strategic offensive.
Zhang Yingcai honestly replied, "No, I am from Chen Geng's corps, and I have never been to Dabie Mountain, only to Funiu Mountain." ”
Chairman Mao shook Zhang Yingcai's hand vigorously: "In the battle of Funiu Mountain, you dragged down 30,000 people with 6,000 people, and fought beautifully!" You're just as amazing! ”
Zhang Yingcai was praised by Chairman Mao, and he became more and more embarrassed, only knowing to stand in front of Chairman Mao and smirk.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="63" > "Desperate Samurai"</h1>
Don't look at Zhang Yingcai in front of Chairman Mao so restrained, appearing honest and generous, waiting for the battlefield, he is almost like becoming another person, just shouting out his name is enough to make the enemy feel frightened. It is precisely because of this that Chairman Mao will be so impressed with him.
However, what many people don't know is that when Zhang Yingcai first joined the army, the army refused to ask him.
Zhang Yingcai, dressed in the uniform of the Central Plains Field Army
Zhang Yingcai was born in 1925, his hometown is in Wanrong County, Shanxi, when he was 12 years old, a unit of the Eighth Route Army came to Wanrong County, beat off the nearby Japanese Kou, and opened a cram school in the local area. Zhang Yingcai, who came from a poor background, thus getting the opportunity to study and learn about this unit.
He was intelligent and studious, and the commander of the Eighth Route Army, who founded and managed the cram school, liked him very much, and often told him the story of the combat of the past troops under his entanglement. Zhang Yingcai was always inspired by these stories to shine in his eyes, and once simply pulled the principal Li Shaobai: "I want to join the Eighth Route Army!" Join now! ”
After hearing this, Li Shaobai laughed and compared his bean figure: "You are so thin, can you afford to carry a gun?" Or in two years, grow into a tall man! ”
Zhang Yingcai obediently waited for two years, and in 1939, at the age of 14, he bid farewell to his parents and officially joined the Eighth Route Army. His mother was reluctant to him, but she was very much in recognition of his ambition to kill the enemy and repay the country, and did not stop him, but instead shed tears before leaving, shed tears and boiled 20 eggs for him to take with him.
A small soldier of the Eighth Route Army
Zhang Yingcai joined the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, and was soon incorporated into the 212nd Brigade Special Agent Company. The "secret agents" in the "special agent company" here are not the "secret agents" as everyone understands them now, and the scope of work of the special agent companies at that time was very extensive, and those who could be selected into the special agent company were all shrewd and capable young people, and the number was small, but each member had super combat ability and could easily complete complex and difficult tasks. This shows how good Zhang Yingcai is.
The first time he made meritorious service on the battlefield was in 1941, when the Japanese and Kosovars gathered heavy troops and launched a frenzied sweep of the anti-Japanese base areas in the Yuenan region. When the brigade commander of Zhang Yingcai's unit was directing the battle, a Japanese shell suddenly landed on them. Zhang Yingcai didn't even think about it, immediately pounced on the brigade commander, protected him with his body, and then ran out to shout for a machine gun company despite the bloody wounds on his body, covering the safe evacuation of the brigade headquarters. Later, the brigade commander gave him the nickname "Desperate Sanlang".
Zhang Yingcai began with this meritorious service, as if he was "addicted" to meritorious service, and he was out of control, from the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression to the War of Liberation, his heroic road slowly unfolded.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="60" > "nine consecutive irons"</h1>
In 1945, the Shangdang Campaign broke out, and Zhang Yingcai really began to emerge. In this campaign, he received orders to take advantage of the night and lead 9 companies of the 57th Regiment to attack Changzhi Beiguan. They marched quietly along the roots of the city wall, and when they reached the roots, the enemy still did not realize their presence.
Battle of the Shangdang
Zhang Yingcai led several comrades-in-arms and blocked the street with door panels to block the enemy's escape route. His plan was good, but a few newly joined recruits in the 9th Company, lacking combat experience, because of nervousness, collided together while installing planks, and made a sound to wake up the enemy.
The entire 9th Company was besieged in the chengguan house, surrounded on all sides by enemies trying to search for them. In such a situation where there was no way to retreat, Zhang Yingcai had no fear, so he led the soldiers of the 9th Company to use the terrain of the house to fight with the enemy for a whole night. By dawn, the enemy had reached its limit. They didn't know that there was only one company in the house, but they had brought in an entire battalion and a security regiment to fight against one of their 9 companies.
Under the leadership of Zhang Yingcai, none of the soldiers of the 9th Company showed a look of fear, let alone the slightest intention of retreating, and insisted on staying in the house of Chengguan, obeying Zhang Yingcai's command, and repelling the enemy's charge wave after wave. In the end, the angry enemy found more than a dozen mortars, and after some shelling, the enemy finally had a chance to climb up to the roof, but then Zhang Yingcai led them down.
In a period of 1 day, the 9th Company repelled 22 enemy charges, killed and wounded more than 300 enemy troops, and bought enough time for the large troops to annihilate all the more than 7,000 enemies defending the city. Zhang Yingcai and the 9th Company were thus awarded the title of "Iron Ninth Company".
This time, the 9th Company was only facing the strength of a battalion and a security regiment, and it was not until the Battle of Lüliang in November 1946 that Zhang Ying took the 9th Company into battle again. This time, the enemy on them had enough strength of a division.
After some fighting, the 9th Company was left with more than 20 people, including Zhang Yingcai, in addition to a hand-held machine gun. When the enemy saw them, they were left with these few people, completely ignoring them, shouting "catch the live", and then rushing up.
In the face of a steady stream of enemies rushing up, Zhang Yingcai still remained calm. He stared dead in the direction of the enemy's rush, while beckoning all the warriors to put on their bayonets. About 20 of them faced the enemy who rushed up, and took the initiative to meet them with bayonets. This kind of lifeless crazy momentum startled the enemy.
Zhang Yingcai took a group photo with deputy instructor He Xingmao
At this time, Zhang Yingcai lifted the machine gun and began to strafe. Originally, the commander of the enemy was still rushing in front, and when he saw the situation, he did not dare to hold it up, so he immediately turned around and ran. As soon as the soldiers saw that the commander was about to run, they also ran, and although they ran to the safety zone, they still had palpitations, and their morale was cut in half.
In such a situation, Zhang Yingcai and 9 Company feet persisted for 4 hours, paying a huge casualty price, but still persisted to the end. After the battle, Zhang Yingcai received a "Special Combat Hero" medal.
The Battle Hero Award, signed by Commander Chen Geng and Political Commissar Xie Fuzhi
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="59" > "Steel Battalion"</h1>
The battle that really made Zhang Yingcai famous was the Battle of Shuangduiji, which broke out in November 1948. This time, the number of enemies he had to face had escalated again, reaching tens of thousands of people, while Zhang Yingcai only had one battalion of troops in his hands.
As soon as the battle broke out, the enemy directly opened the way with tanks, trying to directly crush the position of the 1st Battalion led by Zhang Yingcai. Zhang Yingcai was not intimidated by the enemy's momentum. He arranged 3 platoons and a company in advance, set up an ambush on the way the tanks advanced, and directly caught the tank troops off guard. The tank troops were blocked in the traffic trenches by his men, and finally surrendered their weapons directly.
After that, Zhang Yingcai took 1 battalion and fought with 6 times more people than his own troops. There were many enemies, but they just wanted to break through and seek a way to survive, but Zhang Yingcai still stubbornly held on, and the battle lasted for a whole day, and finally the enemy was defeated by a large number of enemies. Zhang Yingcai then took 1 battalion and rushed to the headquarters of the enemy's 14th Army, killing the commander Xiong Shou (shòu) Chun on the spot.
In this combat command, Zhang Yingcai's 1st Battalion won the glorious title of "Steel Battalion", and all the soldiers of the battalion were recorded for a great contribution. At this time, Zhang Yingcai already had the honorary title of combat hero 4 times, not to mention, but also made 9 special merits, becoming a hero in the hearts of the soldiers of the whole army. Zhang Yingcai was only 24 years old at this time.
The General Front Committee of the Huaihai Campaign awarded the "Iron and Steel Battalion" a battle flag
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="57" > is a soldier king and a warrior</h1>
At the 1950 National Conference of Representatives of Combat Heroes, Zhang Yingcai, who represented Erye, was praised by all the participants. After that, the People's Daily also specially published a newsletter to publicize and praise "Zhang Yingcai, commander of the steel battalion.". Chairman Mao also invited Zhang Yingcai to a family banquet after he married his wife, Tian Qinfang.
Zhang Yingcai and his wife Tian Qinfang
At the 1955 ceremony, Zhang Yingcai, who had made great achievements in battle, received the rank of colonel and finally retired from the position of deputy commander of the major general. His descendants and his wife's descendants are all military heroes, and the Zhang family has become an enviable military home.
Zhang Yingcai is a natural soldier, a soldier king and a warrior, and a true hero who combines courage and luck!
In his later years, Zhang Yingcai